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Ashen Exiles
The Ashen Exiles are a notorious Chaos Warband that were once known as the Spearheads, a formerly Loyalist Successor Chapter created during the lamentable 21st 'Cursed' Founding from the vaunted lineage of the Ultramarines. They were created by a group of Tech-Priests to created an Ultramarines Successor Chapter with a lower mutation rate than even their genetic forebears. Initially deemed successful, the Spearheads were considered one of the few successful Cursed Founding results and inherited the planet of Kastarsuz IV as their homeworld. However, this purity came at a cost. Although the Chapter was freed of physical mutations, their minds had become significantly weaker than the minds of other Astartes. The Astartes of the Chapter were more likely to develop mental disorders and were still corruptable by Chaos even when they were under the protection of their Brother Librarians. Eventually, they fell to the corrupting influence of the Ruinous Powers, becoming the notorious Chaos Warband known as the Ashen Exiles. History Founded during the 21st Cursed Founding, the Spearheads were an Ultramarines successor of minor importance until they were sent to partake in the Abyssal Crusade alongside their brother and cousin Chapters. After the Spearheads spent approximately 5 years in the Warp, a single voice in the Chapter started protesting. That voice was 2nd Captain Ahrulash, Master of The Watch. He complained of the losses the Chapter was suffering, suggesting that they should leave the Eye of Terror and serve the God Emperor of Mankind as renegades rather than die out in a meaningless crusade. When his Chapter Master denied the suggestion however, Ahrulash, in a fit of rage, left the bulk of his Chapter to go crusade on his own. On one of his many travels, the young Second Captain came in contact with a Word Bearers Warband led by Chaos Lord Venus. Though they were still loyal, Ahrulash's advisers suggested talking with the Word Bearers Warband before talking, as they hadn't opened fire on them even though the Spearheads had made themselves known to them. Leading the meeting group, Ahrulash asked Venus why they hadn't attacked Ahrulash's forces yet. The Word Bearer explained to Ahrulash that he didn't attack the Spearheads not out of foolishness, but out of his desire to fulfill a prophecy. Venus explained to Ahrulash that a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch had told him that a companionship between the leaders was destiny and that they would achieve great things together, which drove Venus to a pilgrimage within the Eye of Terror to find the young Captain. Ahrulash, though unsure whether the Word Bearer was to be believed or not, agreed to work alongside the Chaos Lord. Venus then gave Ahrulash information on others who would be willing to work with them, these being 4th Captain Shalyk, 6th Captain Abada, 7th Captain Yarbogha and 10th Captain Shurala. Returning to his Chapter with the excuse that he needs to re-supply, Ahrulash formed a small council with these Captains and began to negotiate with them. Succeeding in convincing them, Ahrulash ordered these Companies to lie in wait until he returned with the Word Bearers. The War to Break A Chapter Though the loyalists expected Ahrulash's return, they were shocked to see that Ahrulash brought with him a Word Bearers Warband of 600 Chaos Space Marines. Though the Spearheads started opening fire, anarchy ensued within their ranks when Ahrulash ordered the Companies he had brought to his side to open fire on the loyalists. Pushing through the loyalist forces with relative ease due to an advantage in numbers, Ahrulash then dared his former Chapter Master to glorious melee combat to the death. Being a proud son of Roboute Guilliman, the Chapter Master obliged with the foul Second Captain's offer. The duel went on for uncounted hours before the Chapter Master of the Spearheads, who was also the last loyal member of the Chapter, was brought to his knees by Ahrulash. Tired of the constant fighting, Chaos Lord Venus shot the Chapter Maste with his Plasma Pistol to finish him off. Enraged by this, Ahrulash impaled the Chaos Lord on his own sword in a fit of daemonic-like rage. Venus did not give up however, as he cast a curse upon the Ashen Exiles in his final breath. Suddenly, all Ashen Exiles started seeing vivid visions of the sins committed by those they had killed over the years. Realizing that no one was pure of heart in this wretched reality, Ahrulash had the armor of the Marines under his command painted black and re-named the Spearheads into the Ashen Exiles. With a curse forever hunting him and his brothers and more than the strength of a Chapter under his command, Ahrulash left the Eye of Terror to find sinful lives to eradicate. Notable Campaigns * Siege of Gatogon IV (346.M37): A few years after the Spearheads became the Ashen Exiles, the newly-formed 2nd and 3rd Battle Companies fell upon the Hive World of Gatogon IV. Though they had originally assumed the planet was left defenseless, they would be in shock when they found out that the Gatogon 2nd and 17th Regiments had returned to their homeworld to re-supply. Though the Imperial Guardsmen would put up a fair fight against the siegeworks of the Ashen Exiles, they would be overwhelmed and destroyed when the populace rebelled against them. Declaring that the populace have wronged their own kind, Ashen Exiles wiped out the populace of the planet and left. * 7th Black Crusade (811.M37): 'Ashen Exiles were located within the Quw Sector of Segmentum Obscurus seven years after the beginning of the 7th Black Crusade. The arriving Imperial forces found that the Ashen Exiles spent their time within the sector committing heretical acts to please Grandfather Nurgle. Billions of mortal corpses littered the streets, left where they died to rot away into the hands of the God of Decay. Thousands of altars were erected all over the planets of the young sector to give offerings to the Plague Father. There was one planet, the Forge World of Mettallux, that managed to stand against the Ashen Exiles for so long. Though the Imperial forces desperately tried to reach the Forge World, they would be stopped by the 11th and 12th Scum Companies of the Ashen Exiles, who would begin a guerrilla campaign against the loyalists within the loyalists' own ships. Deploying the rest of the Ashen Exiles onto the already battered Forge World, Ahrulash crushed the Skitarii forces of Forge World Metallux. As soon as the death of the last Techpriest upon Mettallux was heard from the vox-messages coming from the Forge World, the entire Ashen Exiles Warband disappeared without a trace. * 'Battle of Hub Eighty-Nine (320.M38): 'Locating a grand Star Fortress utilized for trading within the Segmentum Pacificus, Ahrulash would send the 4th Battle Company and 11th Scum Company to said Star Fortress to loot it's riches. Although the Ashen Exiles would overwhelm and destroy all opposition, they would find themselves in great trouble when a quarter of the 4th Company rebelled against the Ashen Exiles. Instead of killing them however, the loyalist Ashen Exiles instead incapacitated the members and brought them back to Ahrulash. Deciding that they were too valuable to be lost, Ahrulash instead lobotomized the traitors and had a variant of the Butcher's Nails installed onto their brains with Champion Erebuke being chosen to lead them. The campaign was considered a success. This campaign was also the birthplace of the Punished 13th Company. * 'Invasion of WAAAGH! Gobsmacka (670.M38): 'A WAAAGH! led by Warboss Gobsmacka engages the Ashen Exiles 1st, 3rd and 5th Battle Companies on the planet of Yorala III. Ashen Exiles manage to crush the opposition, however a splinter group of Orks manage to escape, leading into a 20 year long hide-and-seek between the remnants of Waaagh! Gobsmacka and the Ashen Exiles. Ashen Exiles 1st Company eventually finds the Ork remnants and kills them, however they realize that they have spent too much time chasing the foul greenskins. * [[Ipelia Campaign|'Ipelia Campaign]] (102.M42): '''The Ashen Exiles led the main, and the only, assault against the Imperial forces during the Ipelia Campaign. Warband Homeworld Hive World Kastarsuz IV is the homeworld of the Ashen Exiles. There are scattered forests of tall, crimson stalks. There are gentle rolling hills. One of the local animals can imitate the shape and sounds of any creature, even a sentient one. The local creatures spend most of their lives in hibernation, punctuated by rapid bursts of activity when conditions are right. There are sudden, violent rains. The population of Kastarsuz IV, due to the Chaos sorcery which effected the waters of the planet, are bound to never-ending servitude to the Ashen Exiles until the planet is torn asunder by the storms of Chaos. Fortress-Monastery As Ashen Exiles do not want their Fortress Monastery to be easily seen from orbit, they have set up their base of operations in the depths of the planet. Though this so-called Fortress-Monastery has multiple massive parts and reaches from one side of the world to another, it is referred to only by the name of "City of Ash" in it's entirety with no other part having an unique name for itself. This is done as both means of having an ambiguous name for the Warband's base of operations and as means of making it so that Imperial spies will have a harder time figuring out what part of the underground networks the Ashen Exiles are talking about. Warband Beliefs Compared to other Ultramarine Traitor Warbands or Chapters, who emphasize on selflessnes and team-play, the Ashen Exiles emphasize on the Heretic Astartes' selfishness. Every squad mate, every squad leader, every Lieutenant, every Company Lord, the Chiefs of the Warband and even Chaos Lord Ahrulash Karamazov himself fight for themselves, thinking of the ones below them as means to an end instead of brothers to fight alongside or men to lead into glorious battle. The Ashen Exiles believe that, if they are to fight to achieve their personal goals instead of the goals of the Warbanda as a whole, they will fight at peak performance to ensure that they get what they want in the end. The Ashen Exiles, even those who do not bear the Warband's very own gene-seed, are extremely dedicated to the protection and prosperity of the Warband's homeworld of Kastarsuz IV. To the Ashen Exiles, Kastarsuz IV is a home unlike any other, whose majesty is challenged only by Terra itself. Having fought to regain and keep control of it for uncounted millenia, the Ashen Exiles are ready to die in droves just to ensure the safety of their home. This belief, alongside the selfish nature, of the Ashen Exiles are expressed in the Warband's second warcry, which is "For I, and For Kastaruz!" One of the other, more controversial, beliefs of the Ashen Exiles is that daemonic possession is the way of the coward. The Ashen Exiles believe that the gifts of Chaos, such as mutations and even Daemon Princehood, are to be earned, whether it is through fighting, pleasing one self's Chaos God of choice or simply through gathering the rare materials for a ritual. Meanwhile daemonic possession can be achieved through a simple and quick ritual or, even worse, by just allowing a stray demon into one's body. Due to how easy it is to achieve hilarious amounts of physical power via daemonic possession, Ashen Exiles think of it as an easy cop-out for those who are either too weak or too lazy to earn the chaotic powers they desire. Because of this, the Ashen Exiles refer to any Possessed Marines, including their own, as simply "scum." In order to distance these vermin from their pure, ambitious brethren, the Ashen Exiles Possessed Marines are sent to the 11th and 12th Companies, which are referred to as the Scum Companies. The Ashen Exiles, due to the curse Chaos Lord Venus of the Word Bearers cast upon them before his demise, know of the sins of every single being in the galaxy, including that of their own brothers. Because of their knowledge of the atrocities committed by the inhabitants of the galaxy, the Ashen Exiles have committed themselves to the purging of every single sinful being in the galaxy, including their own allies in the Traitor Legions. Because of this, the Ashen Exiles target factions and planets who have more sinners, such as the Inquisition and Pleasure Worlds respectively, compared to other, more pure factions and planets, such as some of the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes and Feudal Worlds. Warband Organisation Companies Warband Combat Doctrine The Ashen Exiles generally favours close combat over ranged firefights, and Guillimans' tactic of "changing the approarch based on what the enemy is doing", is still a favoured method of attack. Ashen Exiles commanders seek to apply constant pressure on the enemy in a number of overwhelming generalist strikes. These sharp but limited assaults are meant to disrupt the enemy and secure positions that can be used for fire support. This in turn keeps the pressure on while new attacks are being prepared. The time-lapse between each assault decreases with each advance, and the Ashen Exiles commander will usually wait until the pressure reaches its highest point. When this occurs, the commander will lead the best Astartes amongst his Company, usually Aspiring Champions, in a final, devastating assault; an attack in which teleport-capable Terminators are often featured. Hordes of daemons summoned from the Empyrean by the Ashen Exiles' Chaos Sorcerers are also used for frontal assaults, and to pin the enemy in place while the Warband whittles them down. Notable Ashen Exiles '''Ahrulash The King Slayer - The one and only Chaos Lord of the Ashen Exiles and former 2nd Captain of the Spearheads. Described by his servants as a fair and just leader that lacks emotional control. "Leviathan" (Deceased) '- A naive yet Venerable Dreadnaught of the Ashen Exiles, Leviathan was one of the more posh members of the Ashen Exiles. He was lied to by Ahrulash about the latter's true loyalties and joined his forces thinking that it was his Chapter Master who went traitor. Died during a battle against the Templarii Scientae in the Catachan System, his soul currently resides in Ahrulash's Power Axe. '''Chief Sorcerer Basty '- The current Chief Sorcerer of the Ashen Exiles. Acting as the iconoclast of the group, Basty is a rather sarcastic and self-loving figure. Warband Fleet * ''Grand Titan (Executor-class Grand Cruiser) - '''Flagship of the Ashen Exiles * 'Senseless Slaughter (Legate-class Battle Barge)' * 'Guilliman's Blade ''(Overlord-class Battle Barge)' * ''The Glorious 13th ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Unbearable Taint ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''The Unbreakable ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Dead Man Walking ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Ashen Faith ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Scent of Lust ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Bloodied Axe ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Prince of Pox ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Queen of Lies ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''King of Rats ''(Strike Cruiser) * ''Unbearable Realities ''(Strike Cruiser) Warband Relics The Templar's Bane: '''A Power Sword Ahrulash was gifted at his promotion to 2nd Captain. Although left unused for millenia, the Slayer of Kings would finally find a use for this Power Sword after capturing the soul of 1st Captain Stronheim of the Templarii Scientae. Trapping Stronheim's soul within this Power Sword, Ahrulash replaced his trusty Power Spear with it to mock the servants of the False Emperor. '''A Leviathan, All Alone: '''A Power Axe that once belonged to a Khornate Champion, this weapon of unholy war acted as nothing but a trophy until Ahrulash found a use for it. Re-calling the soul of Leviathan from the depths of the Warp, Ahrulash would beg forgiveness from his old friend and convince him to aid him in battle by empowering his Power Axe. Agreeing, Leviathan's soul now resides in this Khornate Power Axe. Ahrualsh replaced his trusty Storm Bolter with this weapon of war to remind the servants of the False Emperor just what they took away from him. '''Armor of The Forgotten One: '''A set of Indomitus Terminator Armor 'originally belonging to Chapter Master Mortuum Ambulando of the Spearheads, this set of holy Terminator Armor was looted by Ahrulash after he decapitated the original owner. Being the only set of armor the Ashen Exiles inherited from the Spearheads, Ahrulash defiled it with the corrupting iconography of the Dark Gods in order to leave no traces of his Warband's origins. Quotes ''Feel free to add your own! By the Ashen Exiles Feel free to add your own! About the Ashen Exiles Videos Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Chaos Undivided Category:Chaos Warbands Category:Ultramarines Successors Category:21st Founding